Funny Milestones

Being an adult in ballet or dance comes with a lot of weird and funny milestones.  I think I've said it before, but pointe especially comes with a ton of fears as an adult.  It can be hard to justify the risks, but I've found there are a lot of really funny little accomplishments that come with being an adult in dance.

Work was nuts yesterday, and I was generally a hot mess all day.  I was on the phone for about 10 hours straight and when I was finally done (and late for ballet!) I basically sprinted around the house finding dance clothes, ran out the door in my slippers and sweats and busted ass to class.  It was only when I got to class that I realized I forgot to bring my shorts or a skirt!!

So I hit a milestone I never thought I'd never hit..... I took class in just a leotard/tights for the first time since returning to ballet!  Eek!  Never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be brave enough to take class in just a leo/tights.  I guess it's good to be forced to do something scary once and awhile.  Ha!  I'm happy I had my black tights on at least.  :)

It's kind of a silly thing, I guess.  I know leo/tights only is expected at many studios.  My instructor pretty much allows us to wear whatever we want to class.  My dance fashion has changed a few times.  When I first started in August 2012 I would pile on the layers in an effort to suck in as much of my jiggle as possible.  Here was my routine when I started:

-Thong
-Sports Bra
-Tights
-Leotard
-Leggings
-Forgiving tanktop that was flowy around the middle

This creates a lot of really weird/ugly bulges & lines.  Sports bra gives you the back bulges, tights give you a muffin top, leggings and thong give different waistlines... the flowy tanktop is the only thing that saves the day in that scenario.

As the season progressed I started wearing booty shorts instead of leggings.  I eventually learned that the thong is pointless if you wear a leotard, and that there really is something to wearing the tights over the leo in terms of smoothing out the bulges.  :)   My current routine:

-Sports Bra
-Leotard
-Tights or compression capris
-Shorts if I'm wearing tights
-Mens undershirt/tanktop

I have to say, I felt kind of liberated in class after I got over how naked I felt (it was kind of like a donald duck feeling).  Even booty shorts restrict movement a little bit.  I was also much more aware of my body placement knowing my teacher could 100% see if I was out of alignment.  :P

Dancing as an adult is a weird thing. :)